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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2013)
Oregon unions sign tentative pacts for 22,000 state workers SEIU and AFSCME members will get modest cost-of- living raises The State of Oregon reached agree- ment July 18 and 19 with its two largest union groups, signing tentative agree- ments that, when ratified, will cover 22,000 state workers. The new agreements provide a 1.5 percent cost-of-living raise Dec. 1, 2013, and 2 percent Dec. 1, 2014. They also end a freeze in step pay increases, and contain no further furlough days — two concessions that workers agreed to two years ago when the state was in fis- cal crisis. State negotiators dropped proposals to make employees pay 100 percent of health insurance premium increases over 5 percent. In the new agreements, workers would continue to pay 5 per- cent of health insurance premiums. And starting 2015, employees who choose the least expensive health plan available to them will see their share of the premium decrease to 3 percent. A unit of 19,000 workers repre- sented by Service Employees Interna- tional Union (SEIU) Local 503 was the first to reach agreement — six days af- ter Local 503 gave a 10-day strike no- tice. Oregon-AFSCME (American Federation of State County and Munic- ipal Employees) concluded a deal on nearly-identical terms the following day, which will cover another 3,000 workers. One difference: In the AF- SCME contract, if health insurance premiums increase less than forecasted, workers would get their cost-of-living raises early — one month early for every 1.6 percentage points less than 5 percent. The two-year contracts are retroac- tive to July 1 and run through June 30, 2015. The big state worker agreement is sometimes called the DAS contract, be- cause it’s negotiated by the Department of Administrative Services on behalf of nearly all state agencies. Together with side agreements, the DAS contracts run up to 160 pages, and spell out pay, ben- efits, work rules, and disciplinary pro- cedures. SEIU this year made several un- usual “common good” proposals, in- cluding a call for investigation into how the LIBOR bank fraud scandal may have hurt public worker pension and other state funds. But when bargaining reached formal “impasse,” those pro- posals were declared “permissive” sub- jects of bargaining, meaning the state, by law, didn’t have to consider them. Ratification votes are expected to take place in the coming weeks and conclude by mid-August. The SEIU vote will take place statewide, by mail ballot. The AFSCME ratification vote takes place agency by agency, and some agencies, like DEQ and the De- partment of State Lands, are still in “lo- cal table” negotiations that could go to the second week of August. Still being negotiated are state con- tracts covering 3,000 workers in two AFSCME-represented units in the De- partment of Corrections, and SEIU-rep- resented units covering 20,000 state- paid in-home care providers and 4,000 workers in the Oregon University Sys- tem (OUS). The OUS negotiations are particularly contentious this year: State negotiators are demanding concessions in cherished union contract provisions like seniority rights during layoffs, over- time pay after eight hours, and safe- guards against privatization. On July 29, SEIU began circulating a member peti- tion in support of strike authorization at OUS. David Cecil named chief of staff at AFT-Oregon David Cecil has been named to the newly created position of chief of staff for the American Federation of Teach- ers (AFT)-Oregon. AFT-Oregon represents roughly 12,000 Oregon workers from 20 locals in K-12, community college and higher education in faculty and classified po- sitions; and child care workers, in both public and private sectors. The chief of staff directs and coordi- nates AFT-Oregon staff, programs, and operations, and reports directly to the president of the council, David Rives. AFT-Oregon chose this new direc- tion with the retirement in February of Richard Schwarz, who served 24 years as AFT-Oregon executive director. Cecil brings over 13 years as a union leader, organizer, and labor relations Anderson appointed to high-level post at UFCW convention United Food and Commercial Work- ers (UFCW) Local 555 Secretary Treasurer Jeff Ander- son has been appointed co-chair of the Rules Committee for the in- ternational union’s convention Aug. 12-16 in Chicago. The appointment was made by UFCW International President Joe Hansen. This is the first time that a member of the Oregon local has held a high- level position at the convention, accord- ing to Anderson. “I consider this a high honor for Lo- cal 555 and recognition of the work we are doing,” Anderson said. UFCW Local 555, the largest pri- vate-sector union in Oregon with a membership of over 19,000, will send 24 delegates to the convention, which is held every five years. PAGE 8 specialist to the post. He joined AFT Lo- cal 3544 in 1999 as a Graduate Teaching Fellow in the history department at the Uni- versity of Oregon in Eugene. He served as an officer in the local until 2002, when he was hired as organ- izer. In 2011, he began work on the suc- cessful United Academics at University of Oregon organizing campaign, help- ing to form AFT-Oregon’s newest unit, which now represents 1,800 faculty at the UO in Eugene. He joined AFT-Oregon staff in Au- gust 2012 as labor relations specialist. Recently, he has assisted United Aca- demics in their efforts to achieve a first collective bargaining agreement with the UO. “I’m excited because there’s a lot of potential in AFT-Oregon,” Cecil said. “The labor movement is at a crucial point in its history. And, the way to be successful in growing the union is to have active locals with members who understand the value of their union, not just in the workplace, but in the com- munity as well. I’m committed to help- ing AFT-Oregon locals and members strengthen our union, and the move- ment as a whole.” IRS PROBLEMS? • Haven’t filed for ... years? • Lost records? • Liens - Levies - Garnishments? • Negotiate settlements. • Prepare offer in Compromise. Call Nancy D. Anderson Enrolled Agent NPTI Fellow/America’s Tax Expert LTC-1807 www.nancydanderson.com 503-244-2577 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS AUGUST 2, 2013
